An innovative renovation of a 1970s building creates eighty-eight sleeping pods; Whistler’s Pangea Pod Hotel is Canada’s first of its kind

Bricault Design delivered their experience in hospitality and residential work to the Pangea Pod Hotel that opened 09 August, 2018. Bricault provided detailed work on a range of design elements; the spatial and architectural design, lighting and furniture design, even facilitating local fabrication of custom fixtures and fittings.

Pods are grouped into suites that include their own amenities such as washrooms, showers and change-rooms.

Budget was a constraint; however, the clients Russell and Jelena Kling valued originality and good design. Vancouver-based Bricault Design was chosen due to their willingness to engage in a collaborative exchange with the couple to develop ideas that fit both the program and vision for this unique project. Bricault worked with the Klings over three years to create an original accommodation solution bridging the gap between luxury hotel and inexpensive hostel, offering the privacy needed for a night’s rest in the heart of the mountain resort, for a reasonable price.

Life inside a pod

The Bricault team developed the pod design within a tight layout; “every centimetre counts” assures team member Daria Sheina. Pangea occupies a commanding site in Whistler’s pedestrian village; the block of former time-share suites is located just steps from the resort’s chairlift stations.

Capitalizing on this location was key. Reworking the building’s exterior within the Village of Whistler’s strict bylaws generated significant design challenges for Bricault, such as improving visual appeal at street level. For example, they needed to redevelop the inconspicuous residential entry into an open and inviting hotel and bar entrance. It now gives the property a clear presence in the village and lets you know something exciting is there to be discovered.

Creative design problem-solving is evident throughout this project, as Bricault created everything from the hotel’s way-finding graphics to custom lighting and the sleeping pods themselves.

Custom lighting by Bricault Design

The designers researched materials that would be interesting and vibrant, but very durable and at the right price-point. The tile chosen to enhance the hotel’s main stairwell is durable, vibrant, and highlights the path upwards to the reception; another, the penny round tile is hard-wearing, allows curved surfaces and was used as a continuous wrap of the entire public space that includes the reception, cafe and bar. Wallpaper designed by Bricault is used to highlight the upper portion of the walls in suites and corridors, much like the complex ceiling design of the lounge, where a variety of tinted mirror was deployed along with topography lights.

Marc Bricault explains that these elements “create a greater sense of space, and in the lounge, facilitate a conversation between the ramblers on the village stroll and the activity in the second story restaurant bar.”

The lounge is designed as an important communal area extending living space for guests outside of the sleeping pods. With their team combining their skills in architecture, industrial design, fine arts, graphic design, as well as millwork and project management, the ambitious Pangea Pod Hotel renovation is a characteristically playful and surprising Bricault Design project.